12 alpha-halo pregnanes



United States Patent r 2,941,996 1C6 Patented June' 21-, 1960 Ila-HALO PREGNANES Burton G. Christensen, Rahway, John M. Chemerda, Metuchen, and Ralph F. Hirschmann, Scotch. Plains, NJ., assignors to Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ.,' a corporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Filed Nov. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 699,174 '4 Claims. (Cl. 260-23955) wherein R is an acyl group and X is halogen.

The 3a-acyl-12a-ha1opregnane-11,20-dione starting material is hydrolyzed under acid conditions without displacing the reactive halogen at the 12-position to form 12a-halo-3a-hydroxy-pregnane-l1,20-dione which has the structural formulawherein X is as above.

Reaction of the 12a-halo-3u-hydroxy-pregnane-l1,20- dione with an oxidizing agent such as N-bromoacetamide, N-bromosuccinirnide, chromium trioxide in pyridine, or an alkali metal chromate in acetic acid results in the formation of 12a-halo-3,11,20-pregnane-trione, a compound having the following formulawherein X is as above.

The 12e-halo-3,11,20-pregnanetrione obtained as abov is reacted. with ethylene glycol in the presence of an acid catalyst such as para-toluenesulfonic acid, sulfosalicyelic acid, and chlorosulfonic acid to form Durham-3,11,20- pregnanetrione cyclic 3,20-bis-ethylene-ketal a compound which may be represented. by the following structural formula- I e wherein X is as above. i

Reaction of the 12a-halo-3,11,20 pregnanetrione-3,20 bis-ethylene ketal with lithium borohydride results in the formation of l2u-halo-3,20-diketo-11B-pregnanol-3,20 bis ethylene ketal a compound having the following forwherein X is as above. Since the halogen in the 12;- position in the above compound is unstable, it is surprising that the keto in the ll-position can beconverted to hydroxy without disturbing the 12-position halogen.

The 12a-halo-3,20-diketo-11fi-pregnanol-3,20-bis-ethylene ketal thus obtained is then reacted with a base such as potassium hydroxide in isopropyl alcohol to form 1 1,9,12fl-epoxy-3,20-pregnanedione-3,ZO-bis-ethylene ketal which may be represented by the formulas- Treatment of the 11B,1213-epoxy-3,ZO-pregnanedione- 3,20-bis-ethylene ketal with acid in an inert solvent. such as dioxane, and neutralizing the mixture with sodium bicarbonate results in the formation of the .12oc-ha10-11flhydroxypregnane-3,20-dione which can be represented by the following formula- 'CHl 2 0 no I .ring, 11,20-dione, was isolated by removing the methanol in acted with bromine in acetic acid to form 4-bromo-12a-' halo-11fl-hydroxypregnane-3,20-dione. Dehydrobromination of the latter compound by means of lithium chloride in dimethylfonmamide results in the formation of 12ahalo-1lfl-hydroxy-4-pregnene-3,20-dione. This latter compound has been found to possess marked anti-inflammatory activity. 7 The following experimental part illustrates in detail some of the compounds which constitute this invention and methods for their production. However, this invention is not to be construed as limited thereby in spirit or in scope since it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications in materials and methods may be made without departing from the invention.

: EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of 12a brornwSQ-hydroxy regnane-I1,20- dione The reaction was quenched by adding a solution of 27.6

g. of sodium bicarbonate in 690 ml. of water with stir- The product, 12a-bromo-3a-hydroxypregnanevacuo, adding 1 liter of water and filtering; M.P.157- 159 C.; wt. 44.9 g. (82%).

Preparation of 12a-brom0-3,11,20-pregnanetrione 39.78 g. of l2aibromo-3a-hydroxypregnane-11,20 dione were dissolved in 971 m1; of methanol and 9.71

. of dry Pyridine were added- The flask was covered phase was extracted three times with chloroform. The

with a black cloth and continuously stirred at about 20 C. A solution of 75.7 g. N-bromoacetamide in 971 ml. of methanol was added and the mixture was stirred for 20 hours. Twenty milliliters of allyl alcohol were added, followed by 3 liters of Water.

Preparation of 12a-br0m0-3, 11,20-pregnanetrione-3,20-

. bis-ethylene ketal A solution of 39.98 g. of 12a bromo 3,11,20-pregnane- The product 12a-bromo- 3,11,20-pregnane-trione which crystallized on standing was filtered off; M.P. 189 191 C.; wt. 38.43 g. (86%).

4 hon-ate and water and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate overnight. It was filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuo; wt. 8.72 g. of a clear oil (87%), 12abromo-3,20-diketo-1lfl-pregnanol-S,20-bis-ethylene ketal was recovered.

Preparation of 115,1Zfl-epoxy-3,20 pregnanedine-3,20- bis-ethylene ketal i a copiousprecipitate of potassium bromide formed .The

was slowly distilled througha Vigreux column for 5 9 hours, keeping the volume constant by adding dry benzene. The reaction mixture was extracted twice with 5% sodium bicarbonate solution and washed once with water. It was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate for about 16 hours, filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuo. The product.l2a-bromo-3,11,20-pregnanetrione- 3,20-bis-ethylene ketal was crystallized from acetonemethanol; M.P. 173175 C., wt. 34.87 g. (72%).

Preparation of 12a-bromo-3,20-diketo-1lp-pregnanol- 3,20-bis-ethylene ketal Ten grams of 12a-bromo-3,l1,20-pregnanetrione-3,20-

bis-ethylene ketal were dissolved. in 300 ml. of tetrahydrofuran and cooled to 0 C. The system was purged with nitrogen. A filtered solution of 8 g. of lithium borohydride in 600ml. of tetrahydrofuran was added over a of 22 ml. of glacial acetic acid in 116 ml. of Water was added. The tetrahydrofuran was removed in vacuo and 200 ml. of Water added. The aqueous layer was extracted three times with chloroform and the combined organic extracts were washed.=with 5% sodium bicar- 'reactiodmixture was poured into the water, and was back-extracted three times with ether, The ether was back;extracted with water and dried over anhydrous so- .sulfate overnight. Filtered and concentrated in vacuo to a small volume; the resultant needles of 11p, 12/8 epoxy 3,20 pregnanedione 3,20 bis ethylene ,ketalwere filtered ofif; M.P. 128130 0., wt. 3.16 g.

Preparation of 120: chlor0-11B-hydroxypregnane-3,20- dione nanedione-3,ZO-bis-ethylene ketal in ml. of a dioxane Solution containing 25 ml. of 2.4 N hydrochloric acid was allowed to stand for three hours at room temperature and then was heated at 60 C. for an additional three hours. A cold, saturated solution of sodium bicarbonate was added to neutralize the acid. The dioxane was removed in vacuo on the hot water bath and the aqueous chloroform extracts were Washed once with water and dried over anhydrous sodium 'sulfate for one hour before filtering and concentrating the filtrate to dryness in vacuo on the hot water bath. The product was purified to give material melting at 239-243 "C.

Prep r tion of 12a-chl0ro-1 1 fl-hydroxypro gesterone a the present invention, certain preferred embodiments of Y which are herein disclosed, without departing from the scope thereof; to the extent that these changes and modifications are within the scope of the appended claims, they are to be considered as part of this invention.

We claim:

1. 12a bromo- 3,11,20-pregnanetrione 3,20-bis-ethylene ketal having a melting point of about 173-175 C.

2. 12a bromo 3,20-diketo-11fi-pregnanol-3,20-bisethylene ketal. t V ,3. .11;3,12B -.epoxy 3,20-pregnanedione-3,20-bis-ethylene ketal having a melting point of about 128130 C.

4. The process which comprises reacting 12a-bromo- 3,11,20-pregnanetrione-3,ZO-bis-ethylene ketal with lithi- Lum borohydride to form l2a-bromo-3,20-diketo-11B- pregnanol-3,ZO-bis-ethylene ketal.

Diassi et al. Sept. 9, 1958 A solution of-1.0 g. of the 11B,12/8-epoxy-3,20-preg-,

-ta-h, an 

1. 12A - BROMO - 3,11,20-PREGNANETRIONE-3,20-BIS-ETHYLENE KETAL HAVING A MELTING POINT OF ABOUT 173-175*C.
 3. 11B,12B - EPOXY - 3,20-PREGNANEDIONE-3,20-BIS-ETHYLENE KETAL HAVING A MELTING POINT OF ABOUT 128-130*C. 